The plan also calls for the county to more than double its recycling rates over the next eight years, significantly reducing the amount of trash it burns at the county-owned incinerator.

Doing that, however, means the county would have to bring in trash from other counties for the burn plant -- which, over the years, has required multimillion-dollar annual taxpayer subsidies -- to operate efficiently, according to the report.

Perhaps the most controversial suggestion in the report, though, is that the county explore siting an ash landfill near the town of Poughkeepsie burn plant until the state approves alternative uses for the ash, a byproduct of the trash incineration process.

Following a sometimes heated debate, members of the Dutchess County Legislature's Environment Committee approved the plan in an 8-4 vote Thursday. The full Legislature will consider adopting the 10-year plan at 7 p.m. tonight.